


Dangerous Games

by Sangerin



Category: Spooks | MI-5
Genre: F/F, Femslash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-05-24
Updated: 2005-05-24
Packaged: 2017-10-23 08:51:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/248478
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sangerin/pseuds/Sangerin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>'I always liked you a little bit better when you were angry.'  Post 2.9</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dangerous Games

**Author's Note:**

> Many, many thanks to [](http://aldenmacrae.livejournal.com/profile)[**aldenmacrae**](http://aldenmacrae.livejournal.com/), who helped get the muse going. Also to [](http://melwil.livejournal.com/profile)[**melwil**](http://melwil.livejournal.com/), who is a brilliant beta, even in the face of 29 grade four children.

There was a hotel suite she and Tessa had used. Neither of them knew where the other lived. They were true spies, revealing about themselves only what was absolutely necessary.

There was no guarantee Tessa would be there, but Zoe was confident. She knew Tessa; knew how she operated, how she thought. She had sent the message to Harry, telling them all she was leaving. But she wouldn’t have left yet. Tessa would be waiting for her.

Zoe opened the door to the suite. There were two chairs by the window, and Tessa was sitting in one of them.

‘Hello, stranger.’

‘Tessa,’ Zoe replied, her voice cold.

‘It’s been a long time since we were here.’ Tessa shrugged gently. ‘I meant to invite you up here after we met on Oxford Circus but you seemed a little involved with work. Keeping busy?’

Zoe nodded.

‘In any case,’ Tessa continued, ‘I knew you’d show up here sooner or later. How is everyone back at Thames House?’

‘You betrayed us,’ said Zoe.

‘Oh, come now! I may have let something slip about an operation or two but I certainly haven’t betrayed the entire organization.’

‘You want to know how everyone is, Tessa? When I left, Harry was in the conference room, working his way through a bottle of scotch with your message on loop. Tom has rushed away to goodness knows where; Samantha – your little pawn, remember? She hasn’t even been told that it wasn’t a training exercise. Hasn’t been told that she was unknowingly turned into a double agent and that what she did also jeopardized the entire operation and that people are dead because of it. You’ve got them where you want them. I don’t know what you did to Harry or him to you, but you’ve wreaked your vengeance on him thoroughly.’

‘Are you finished yet?’ Tessa asked, in a bored tone. ‘By the way, whether your tirade is over or not, you may as well sit down.’ She indicated the chair opposite her, but Zoe refused to take it.

‘I’m not staying. I just wanted to make sure you knew how much I detest you right now.’

‘Thank you for that - I’ll keep it in mind.’ She turned away and looked out the window. ‘And how’s Tom? I hear he and Harry aren’t getting along quite so well these days - something about a long-legged CIA agent?’

‘That’s none of your business.’

‘No, but it’s yours. Who is going to have to pick up the reins when Tom finally...’ She paused. ‘I’ve heard he hasn’t been looking very well.’

‘And again, I can’t see how any of this is your business. You’re not in the Service anymore.’

‘I realize that. In fact, I believe I’m looking at the reason why.’

Tessa and Zoe locked eyes for a long moment.

‘I idolized you for so long,’ said Zoe. ‘And right now I can’t work out why I ever did.’

‘Oh, that’s quite simple,’ replied Tessa. ‘I’m the person you want to be.’

‘You used to be. When I thought you were brilliant and gorgeous and just a little bit dangerous. But now the only thing that's left is the danger, and no, you aren't who I want to be. Not now.’

‘Step back and take a look at yourself, Zoe. Stop wearing those foolish rose-coloured glasses that Harry hands out when you join B section. Danger is what gets us all in to this business. It’s a drug. The danger and the adrenaline and the mystery of never being who you really are.’

‘I know who I am. And it’s not you. I don’t ever want to be you.’

Tessa leaned back in her chair. ‘I always liked you a little bit better when you were angry. You have so much more energy. You glow with it. I like you with fire coming from your eyes. But then, I always liked you, didn’t I?’ Tessa stood up and moved towards Zoe. ‘That’s something I’ve noticed about you. You attract people. With your hair and your little pixie face and your ability to be so many different people.’

Zoe put her hand up to push her hair back and Tessa caught it. Zoe pulled away.

‘Who were you with that Italian of yours? Emily the legal secretary. Demure little thing, I’m sure. Except in bed.’

Zoe took a sharp breath.

‘You didn’t think I knew about that, did you?’ She moved in closer to Zoe again and Zoe took a step back.

‘You were careless, Zoe. You didn’t check his background, you didn’t think twice before heading off to a hotel with him. Just like this one. What if they have cameras on me? Tracking my movements. Twice in one year, Zoe, fraternizing with the enemy; not a good thing to do. Harry wouldn’t like it.’

‘Go to hell,’

‘A girl after my own heart,’ said Tessa. ‘Or are you really? From what I hear, you really enjoyed that little tumble with your Italian stallion. Was he all you hoped he’d be?’ Tessa raised her eyebrows. ‘Of course, you’re not used to dealing with that particular piece of equipment, are you? Your focus has been elsewhere. Like on that little Columbian.’

‘What do you mean?’ asked Zoe, sharply.

‘You want her, don’t you. Or you did. I’m not surprised, actually. She looks quite lovely. Slender, flexible. Very pretty. Willing, or so I hear from Ross Vaughn.’

Zoe’s eyes flashed, but she said nothing.

Tessa continued to taunt her. ‘What happened? Did she prefer Tom?’

‘Did you come here just to hurt me?’

‘Oh, I already did that,’ replied Tessa. ‘Don’t you know how Rafa found out about Mariella’s little operation for you? About her appetite for Ross Vaughn? You betrayed me to Harry. You got me booted out of MI-5 and you thought you wouldn’t have to pay? Your little girlfriend is paying right now.’

Zoe took a step back, her eyes wide.

‘Why aren't you there with her? This girl you think so much of, she's bleeding to death on the floor. Tom's probably there, holding her in his arms. She's bleeding all over him. And you're not there. No, you're here with me.’

Zoe took another step back, and another, until she was backed up against the wall.

‘Why is that?’ Tessa asked. ‘If you think so much of her, why are you here?’

Still Zoe didn’t answer. Instead, she slid down the wall until she was sitting on the floor. Tessa stood over her, looking down.

'You had to choose, didn't you? You had to choose between Mariella and me.' Tessa smiled. 'You chose me.'

Zoe began to cry. She cried silently, the tears slipping down her cheeks and her breath coming in low gasps. Her shoulders shook.

'Don't you understand, Zoe? I know you. I know everything about you. I knew you'd choose me over her. You'll always choose me.'

Zoe shook her head. She gasped a little through her tears as she tried to speak. 'No. Not you. Not anymore.'

Tessa squatted down, level with Zoe. 'So why did you come to me? Why aren't you with your little Columbian girlfriend? You know I'm leaving England, don't you? Forced out by that sanctimonious git, Harry. He won. I lost. I'm leaving. And you couldn't let me leave without seeing me one more time.'

Tessa shifted onto her knees and leaned forward, looking into Zoe’s face.

‘It's nice and warm in Majorca, and you’re wasted in MI-5. They’ll never appreciate you. Not properly, not with Tom and Danny stealing your thunder.’ Her tone changed again, becoming lighter. ‘You never saw my London apartment, did you? My house in Majorca is bigger. Grander. Room for two - or more.'

Zoe's tears had stopped, but she turned her head away, refusing to meet Tessa’s gaze. She said nothing.

Tessa laughed. 'You'll come. If not now, later. You can't stay away from me. You couldn't stay away from me when you were in Oxford. You broke that girl's heart, you know. Poor thing. She's living an entirely different life now. Without you. And you have me.' Tessa smiled, her expression eager. Hungry. 'I need to ask, though. Am I really that good? Am I worth all the chasing?' Her hand rested on Zoe's leg, her fingers playing with the hem of Zoe’s trousers.

Zoe showed no reaction at all.

'There must be something that keeps you coming back to me,’ said Tessa. ‘And because I know you so well, I can only think that it’s this,’ she finished, and she leaned forward. Zoe turned away, but Tessa put up a hand against Zoe’s cheek and held her in place while she kissed her. Zoe closed her eyes.

‘You like that, don’t you?’ said Tessa quietly. She kissed Zoe again, still with a hand against Zoe’s cheek, preventing her from pulling out of the kiss. Tessa brought a hand up to cup beneath Zoe’s breast.

Zoe squirmed beneath Tessa’s touch. She pushed back, not trying to get away from Tessa, but deepening the kiss. Tessa began to kiss Zoe’s neck, light touches of her lips along Zoe’s pulse. She reached the base of Zoe’s throat and then said, ‘It was always me, wasn’t it?’

She took hold of Zoe by the elbows and lifted her up until she was standing. She kissed Zoe gently. ‘You poor girl, you have been having a terrible time. You may not believe it, but I understand what it’s like to love someone you can’t have. But you can have me, right now. And I can have you.’

She had been undoing Zoe’s trousers as she spoke, and now she pushed them down. She knelt down on the floor in front of Zoe, and Zoe put one hand on Tessa’s shoulder. Zoe’s breaths were shallow, and she gasped as Tessa pulled down Zoe’s underwear. Zoe closed her eyes again and leaned her head against the wall. She squirmed, and then her hips bucked as Tessa went to work with her tongue. She jerked away and Tessa held on to her hips to steady them. From deep within Zoe’s throat came a moan, and she gripped Tessa’s shoulders hard. Finally she let one shoulder go and pressed her hand flat against the wall. Zoe bit her lip and then shuddered. The hand pressed against the wall went limp, and Tessa leant her head against Zoe’s stomach.

After a moment or two, Tessa stood up. She pulled up Zoe’s trousers and fastened them. Then she kissed Zoe gently on the forehead, as Zoe brought her hand back up to rest on Tessa’s shoulder.

Zoe opened her eyes. ‘You bitch.’

Her hands were still on Tessa’s shoulders, and with just a little pressure, she flipped them both around so that Tessa’s back was against the wall.

‘You have no idea, do you? Yes, you are brilliant and sexy - ‘ Zoe leaned in and kissed Tessa on the mouth, pulling back to say ‘and dangerous. And you chased me.’ She kissed her again. ‘You chased me for a year and you have to know I was flattered by that.’

Tessa opened her mouth, but Zoe lifted a hand from one shoulder and placed it against Tessa’s mouth.

‘My turn to talk; you’ve had your say.’ She leaned in against Tessa, pinning her to the wall. ‘Who wouldn’t be flattered? The great Tessa Phillips, the hero of B Section, with the ability to make grown men swoon before you. Wanting to screw me in the corridors of Thames House - what an adrenaline rush.’

She pressed up harder against Tessa. ‘Remember how this feels? Or no, you wouldn’t. Because it was always me beneath you. Not anymore.’

She had one hand underneath Tessa’s blouse, cupping her breast, her thumb flicking over the nipple. She slid the other hand beneath the waistband of Tessa’s trousers.

‘Do you know what really sickens me, Tessa? You played Sam almost the same way you played me.’

Tessa stared at Zoe. With every move of Zoe’s hand beneath her trousers she took a guttural breath, and her head tipped back against the wall. But her eyes stayed open, locked with Zoe’s, never looking away.

‘Did you seduce Sam, too? Is she another notch on your bedpost? I know you’ve had Tom and Harry and Miranda. Probably even Christine Dale. It’s just the way you operate. Which makes me wonder why I ever thought you cared.’

Tessa tried to speak again, but Zoe moved her hand particularly viciously, and Tessa’s jaw snapped shut.

‘I almost fell in love with you,’ Zoe said bitterly.

Beneath Tessa’s blouse Zoe flicked her thumb roughly over Tessa’s nipple. She pressed hard with the thumb of her other hand, and Tessa’s entire body stiffened. Her eyes almost closed and her shoulders flattened against the wall.

Zoe stepped away from Tessa, leaving her with her trousers bunched around her knees and her linen blouse rumpled, her breathing rough.

‘Goodbye, Tessa. I don’t think I’ll be keeping in touch.’

Zoe walked away from the suite with her head high.


End file.
